In the past many attempts have been made to provide a tire iron which can be used as a multi-purpose tool, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,583 wherein they provide a tire tool comprising a cross arrangement of two perpendicular disposed components for use as a handle, a wrench, a means to support a wheel when being mounted, a skid and hook element, a hub cap hook and a pair of roller wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,964 combines a lug wrench having an interchangeable handle, socket ends and a gear housing.
Also, in the prior art is taught multi-purpose hand tools having variably sized socket attachments such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,926,721, 4,882,958, 4,727,782, 4,620,460 and 3,745,860. However, none of these references would be acceptable to use as a tire iron as is the present invention.
A further prior art reference as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,286 teaches a collapsible automotive tool which includes a pair of pivotably interconnected arms disposed in a crossing relationship and having a manually releasable spring detent which locks the arms in a perpendicular open position for use as a wrench. Also included is a socket attachment, a curved claw and a hammer, however, this device has many parts and disadvantages which the present invention addresses.
In studying the prior art it becomes clear that it is desirable to provide a tire iron or the like, which is easy to use, is collapsible and includes means to use many variably sized sockets, a spark plug removal device, and/or an elongated tip for hub cap removal etc.